Breaking Old Habits

by Melissa Bender

  His parents were sitting at the dining table when we walked out, and I have no doubt that they heard our spat. If they did, they were not showing it. I soon realised they were not listening. They were too busy looking at the family album of the boys that I had been making. Well, they were more of a scrapbook.

  “Mum, Dad…” Griffin said, rubbing his hand against my lower back where his mother’s eyes darted straight to. “This is Ayla.”

  “Yes, you introduced us already… She’s Bryan or Braun’s girlfriend.” She sounded exhausted even talking to him about it, and with a flick of her hand, she dismissed him.

  “It’s Bryan and no, she’s not seeing him. I should have just told you the truth.”

  “Oh…” His father suddenly straightened up and reached into his back pocket. “How much do you owe her?”

  Holy fuck! Was I just referred to as a hooker? I would prefer the term escort. I have more class than banging just anyone for a quick buck. I’m definitely worth more.

  “Twenty.” I shrugged. May as well give it back to them.

  He began pulling out a twenty dollar note, and I shook my head. “Thousand.”

  “Oh, just pay the girl for heaven’s sake, Paul.” His mother snapped, flicking another page in the book and not once lifting her eyes.

  “Christ.” His father’s cheeks reddened as he went for the check book. He could not be serious, right?.

  “Dad, please stop,” Griffin chuckled. He got my twisted sense of humour, but his parents sure did not. “This is Ayla, my girlfriend. She lives here.”

  It was quiet for a moment. Their confusion was clear.

  “The prostitute?” his mother spoke, her jaw dropped.

  “Mum! No. Now stop it. Ayla, meet my mother, Theresa, and my dad, Paul.” Griffin’s hand gave me a gentle squeeze as I stayed glued to the spot. It was not how I wanted to meet his parents, but it was better than nothing, I guess.

  “Nice to meet you,” I said quietly, feeling shyer than usual.

  “I’m confused.” Paul stood up and walked around the table where we were standing. “You’re not a…” A grin swept over his face. “Ahh, smart girl! I would have handed it over without a thought.” He laughed, and I was wondering just how much money they have. “Ayla, pleasure to meet you. Sorry for the confusion. You just never know these days. How long have you been shacking up with my son?”

  “Umm…” Should I tell them the whole time? Or just...

  “She moved in after a year of dating. Been here roughly around—”

  “I’ve been here almost six months. We’re together for—”

  “Six months off two years. I’ll have to get you—”

  “Flowers for our anniversary.”

  We were finishing each other’s sentences, and I could see it was not sitting well with his mother. She looked repulsed.

  “How old are you?” she asked

  Ugh. That was not what I wanted to talk about.

  “Twenty-two.”

  “Thirty-Two?”

  Shaking my head, I said it clearer. “I’m twenty-two.”

  “That’s quite the age gap. Fifteen years is a big difference. What do your parents think about this?” she asked, now giving me her full attention. “You’re just so young.”

  I took a seat only because I did not want to throw up again. “They don’t have a problem with it. They love him and the kids, so it’s no big deal.”

  She clicked into gear at the mention of the kids. “You… You’re around the boys?”

  Duh. “Yes. Would you like coffee?”

  “Griffin? Why are we just finding out about this now?” I’ll that as a no. “I thought you and Karen we’re working on things.”

  That was news to me.

  “No, Mum. I’m with Ayla. I’m happy with her, and the boys love her.”

  “But she’s—”

  “Age means nothing. It’s just a number. Now, coffee?” he spoke with evident anger, but he did not lose his temper.

  If he hated conflict so much, then why did he have no problem hurting me and not the others in his life who were hurting him purposely? I really needed to sit and think about things seriously. Was all this worth it?

  I left them in the kitchen to catch up while I went back to the bedroom, bumping into Bryan on my way out who was wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and his morning glory. He just smirked, winking as I looked away, rolling my eyes. There was no shame in that man. He was good looking as hell but had absolutely no shame when it comes to flirting.

  There was no point in me trying to get any rest. That went out the window with the loud Jane Fonda cackle from Monster-in-Law that his mother kept making every few minutes over something Griffin was saying.

  Tears sprung to my eyes as I thought about the earlier fight and how much that really hurt. Was Harvey right about him? Yes, I deserve better than to be treated this way, but I loved Griffin, and I could not picture a life without him. My heart literally ached thinking about him and me no longer together.

  Sleep soon overtook me as I curled on my side and closed my eyes. I was never eating Charlie’s cooking again.

  ***

  I felt a bounce on the bed and groaned, keeping my eyes closed. “You just love waking me up, don’t you?”

  “Dad said to see if you’re okay. He’s saying goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma doesn’t like you, said you’re closer to my age than dads.”

  I giggled, opening my eyes at Toby. I sighed. “You’re seven years younger than me. I never really thought about that before.”

  “You could be Dad’s daughter, she said.” Toby scrunched his face and shook his head. “Yuck.”

  That took the daddy I playfully called him to a whole new level. “Yeah, like if he was like fifteen when he had me, but yuck is the right word.” I sat up, taking the hood off my head, and waited for the wave of nausea to hit, but it did not. I felt normal. Well, better than I had been when I woke up this morning. “How about we get some food? I’m starving.”

  “Dad said you’d say that.” Toby laughed, getting off the bed. “Oh, and Mum said to say hello.”

  Yeah, like she really meant that. Bitch.

  “So let’s go and get some food, big guy.” I yawned, putting my feet on the floor and fixing the bed back up.

  Griffin was just closing the front door when I walked out with Toby, flashing me a somewhat relieved smile as he walked over and kissed the top of my head. “Feeling better, pretty?”

  “A little.” I was fine, but I was going to milk this a little longer. I wanted him sucking up big time to make up for the hurt he put me through this morning. “I’m a bit hungry.”

  His hands began to massage my shoulders, and I felt my eyes start to roll just from how good it felt. “That feels amazing.”

  “Oh, he’s got amazing hands.” A voice broke all my thoughts, and I looked up to see Karen sitting in our living room with Mack. “He used to rub my shoulders all the time. When I was pregnant with the boys, he gave the most incredible massages.”

  What the ever loving fuck is she doing in here? How did I even miss her sitting there in front of me? Fuck me. He could not be serious right now. How was this making up for anything? I was just going to be in a worse mood if he kept this up.

  “Karen, you’re in our house?” I almost threw up at the sight of her.

  My stomach was swirling, and my heart was beginning to beat faster. Jealousy was swarming through my veins as I thought about him touching her. Griffin’s touch suddenly irritated me, and I moved away from him to grab a drink from the kitchen.

  I looked up just as she made her entrance into the kitchen.

  She grabbed a bottle of coke and took three large mouthfuls before speaking. “Oh, yes. Mack and I are doing some reading for his school work. Seeing as though the kids are back with you two tonight, I thought I might as well come over and help with homework.” She then, and ever so ladylike, belched in two parts, giggling afterwards.

  She was a p
ig. There were no other words for her. She was a lazy, mooch of a pig.

  My eyes were piercing through Griffin’s skull as he made eye contact with me for a moment. “Well, we haven’t discussed that yet. I don’t see why you have to do that when I’m here to help. We both have been doing so without your help, Karen.”

  “I’ll be helping, Griffin. I’m their mother.”

  “Okay.” I could not make a scene in front of the kids. I knew that was what she wanted. She wanted me to go all crazy in front of the kids so she would have more of a reason to gain full custody.

  Right now, I wanted to drink. Going into the pantry, I grabbed out a sachet of caramel latte and made myself a hot drink. Watching the kettle boil was the only thing that calmed me down right now.

  Griffin was hanging around like a fly, and I sighed, finally talking to him. “What do you want?” I felt like I was going to be in a permanent pissed-off mood.

  “Uh…” He hesitated. “Look, I tried to get out of it… just so you know.”

  “Spit it out.” I demanded, stirring my drink roughly. The delicious coffee spilling over the edges only irked me more. “Her in here. Not on.”

  “Mum invited her over. She got here literally two minutes before you woke up. I swear, I’ve barely even spoken to her, Ayla.” He really felt the need to tell me this. He was feeling the heat of my silence. He was panicking because I was on the verge of walking out on him.

  “Fuck me.” I turned and looked at him. “Take me to bed. I want you to make love to me right now.”

  “The boys…” He hesitated, his eyes flickering over to them. “Later…”

  “Bullshit,” I muttered. They never bothered him before. All those times we snuck off for a two-minute quickie, he never once turned me down unless the kids were not busy doing something, then we waited. “Forget it.”

  “Ayla…” He sighed, finally taking hold of me and pulling me against his chest. My tears spilled out, and I lost it. I silently cried in his arms. The water must have gone through his shirt because he moved aside and tilted my chin up, meeting my sight, and a pained expression crossed his face. “Fuck, it rips my heart out seeing you like this.”

  I knew he meant that, and it just made me cry harder.

  The pad of his thumb brushed just underneath my eyes as he wiped my tears away. “Tell her to leave, Griffin. Please.” My voice was giving my hurt away as I buried my head back against his chest and silently sobbed.

  I needed her gone today. I just needed her to leave me and this shitty day alone.

  “My parents will be back in half an hour. They’re taking us out for lunch.”

  I did not know if that was meant to make me feel better, but it did not. I said nothing, and he kept talking.

  “I told them no, but the boys said yes, and she had already spoken with Karen. Seems like they speak regularly.”

  “Wait… what?” Was he saying lunch with his parents and us or the all of us as in that thing in the living room also? “I’m not going.”

  “I need you there with me.”

  “Doubt it,” I muttered just as Mack walked into the kitchen wearing a huge smile.

  “We’re all going out for family lunch! Mum said she’s coming too!” He was excited, and this is where I felt like a bitch. I had to put my issues aside and do this for the kids. “You’re coming too. Right, Ayla?” he asked, hopefully.

  It was not about me and my problems anymore. It was about the kids wanting to have dinner with their Mum and Dad and grandparents—a family. But how did I fit into it all? I was not anything except the girlfriend. I needed to be more supportive. I needed to suck it up and do this for Griffin and his sons.

  With a smile, I nodded and wrapped my arm around Griffin’s waist. “Of course, I am. Your dad’s going to buy me dessert! Couldn’t pass that up.”

  Griffin looked down at me and whispered in a voice low enough for me to hear. “Thank you.”

  “That’s called putting you first,” I whispered back, moving away to go and finish my drink in peace before spending an irritating few hours with his ex and parents.

  You can do this. It’s just a family lunch. “You’re a big happy family,” I told myself as I rummaged our wardrobe for an outfit worthy of his mother’s approval.

  A big happy fucking family we were not.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  My pussy was purring… and no, I did not own a kitten.

  “Oh, my… That... keep doing that!” I cried out, and it came out muffled in his hand. My legs were shaking, my hips were tingling, and my toes began to curl at the start of my orgasm as it climbed that mountain of bliss. “Fuck… fuck… fuck… I’m cumming.”

  “Yeah…” He grunted, his hips taking long and hard strides between my thighs. I kept my legs wrapped around him tightly as my fingers dug into the skin of his bare ass, wanting him in deeper and deeper. “I’m going to cum… Shit, Ayla! Fuck...” he moaned as I raised my hips and squeezed him empty just as my own orgasm rippled through my body.

  My pussy was clenching uncontrollably around his swollen cock as he slid in and out. Our bodies were slapping together, and my hips raised to create a faster friction with each one. Juices spilled, tongues tangled, hands grasped—we could not get enough of each other. Neither of us wanted it to end.

  Lying there half-dressed and sprawled out on the bedroom floor, I panted heavily. Griffin collapsed on top of me. “Happy now?” He smirked, giving me a kiss before pulling out and tucking himself back into his boxers.

  I just lay there, watching him. “Mmm.” A sleepy, exhausted, and sated smile escaped my lips. “For now.”

  “For now?” he asked, raising a brow and grabbing a shirt he had only just changed out of to wipe me clean. “You’re insatiable, Ayla.”

  “Only for you,” I replied, finally sitting upright and reaching for my top. “How is it that all you do is just lower your jeans and I have to get completely naked for a quickie?”

  “Your skin… your body… It’s very addicting,” he said with a growl that went with his aroused state.

  I smiled, blushing as I stepped into a pair of boyfriend jeans and did the button up. “You came in here like a predator on a mission. I was dressed and ready to go.”

  “I was hard at the thought of you in here naked and dressing.” He came over and pulled me to him. “I love you, pretty.”

  “I love you too.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and began to kiss him once more. I felt the bulge growing once again in his jeans. “I can’t wait until we get back from lunch. I can’t believe you fucked me with her out there.”

  “Maybe hearing us will keep her away.” Hmm, if only. His mouth lowered once again. “God, you’re sexy! I can’t get enough of you.”

  “Me either.” I could not. “I love you like crazy.”

  His long, lean fingers ran through my hair, and he kissed me with a deep, knee crumbling passion “I’ll love you until my heart stops beating, Ayla, and even then, I’m pretty sure I’ll still keep on loving you.”

  “You’re so romantic.” I smiled against his soft lips as our tongues wound together once again.

  The bedroom door began to open, and Griffin instinctively wrapped his arms around my body to cover my exposed front. The boys now and then did walk in unannounced but always covered their eyes. Bless their little hearts.

  This time, however, it was not Toby or Mack. It was their mother.

  “What do you think you’re doing!” I exclaimed, seriously annoyed. This was our room—our private room for him and me. She now tainted it. “Get out!” I could not help it. She had no right to be in here. Of all the rooms, this was ours and off limits.

  Scowling, she scoffed. “Fucking hurry up. We’d like to leave sometime soon.”

  “Get out, Karen.” Griffin’s order was clear. “You have no need to be in here. Ayla is right. You need to leave.”

  Oh my, did he just take my side?

  She stuttered, refusing eye contact. “I was just... I wa
s uh… Never mind.”

  Could she be? Oh please, tell me she was. She was actually jealous. she heard us. And baboom! I hoped it hit her in the heart. I hoped it made it clear to her that her and Griffin are really never getting back together again.

  He sighed once she had left, checking the door one last time to make sure. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m at a loss. She’s doing my head in.”

  “It doesn’t seem like she’s doing your head in.”

  “I might not show it, Ayla, but I’m not liking her in our house as much as you are. I don’t want to fight because that’ll make the boys take sides and she’ll go to the cops about the betting. We almost got caught the other week.”

  “Why don’t you stop betting then?” I suggested, sitting on the bed to slide my shirt over my head. “You have the tat shop. Can’t you just stick with that?”

  He took the spot beside me, putting his hands over his face and yawning. “I like playing poker.”

  “Well, then keep playing.” I grinned as I hooked my leg over his thighs and straddled his lap, running my fingers through his hair to massage his scalp. “Harvey loves my massages; just so you know.”

  “I’d rather not know that,” he grimly muttered. “And I never massaged anyone until you came along. She barely even got a hello some days.”

  She said it to get a reaction out of me. Damn her. “Well, Harvey has never experienced my massages, and by the way, I think she’s jealous of what she walked in on,” I said, remembering the look on her face as those marble eyes darted from him to me. “She’s never heard you tell me that you love me before, and she probably heard it all.”

  “She heard me fucking you?” He raised a brow, cupping my ass and flexing up his body in a slow, tantalising grind. “She heard me eating your pussy? What about when I came inside you? She heard that too?”

  I giggled. “How should I know? It’s not like we were listening for others.”

  “You sure you’re not feeling sick? We could, you know, cancel and stay in.”

  What has happened to the man who hurt me earlier? He has done a full change and swapped directions, wanting to stay in and then kicking Karen out. Maybe he finally saw that his actions were a complete fuck up and was trying to change. I liked it.